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Cassandra Haslam waved to the woman in the white SUV, keeping her smile clipped in place until she’d gone.All the way around the corner and out of sight.Only then did Cass turn back to her house, a sigh falling from her lips and turning into a darker sound in the back of her throat.
She re-entered her house, the scent of her husband’s cologne always lingering just inside the door.He hung his jacket there, along with his scarf, and Cass gave them both a cursory glance as she went by.West was nothing if not regimented.He did the same thing at the same time every day.So tomorrow morning, when the clock struck eight, he’d shrug into his jacket and wrap that scarf around his neck, where both picked up earthy, musky notes of his cologne.Then he’d kiss Cass, who’d barely be out of bed, and head out the door to work.
Weekend mornings found him with theNational Geographicmagazine and coffee until noon.He couldn’t drink it past that, he claimed, or he wouldn’t be able to sleep at night.
She walked past the couch and all the clean, crisp lines in the living room.She’d just gotten new furniture and new rugs when she and West had put in new flooring.Cass loved updating old things, and she got called in for a lot of renovations around Sweet Water Falls, Beeville, and other surrounding small towns.
As an interior designer, she could see beauty in things most people couldn’t.She could repurpose anything, and she could draw up a set of plans for a customer in only minutes.Her new software and tablet helped with that, and Cass glanced at it as she passed the built-in desk in the kitchen.
She paused there and hugged herself as she faced her friends.“So,” she said, and that brought Joy’s attention to her.Joy was an exceptional listener, and she and Cass had started walking this winter.It wasn’t really cold in the Coastal Bend of Texas, not like some parts of the country.Jacket weather for sure, but Cass had never even owned a coat or a snow shovel.
“Guys,” Joy said, and that got Bessie and Sage to stop talking about herbs and poultices.Sage loved everything to do with homeopathic healing, crystals, and connecting her spiritual energy to the earth.Bessie had developed a rash, and Sage wassurethis essential oil or that one would work to clear it up.
Lauren twisted away from Bea, who had a flight out of San Antonio at seven-fifty tomorrow morning.She’d been staying in Cass’s guest bedroom for two nights now, and Cass would miss her when she left.
True to her word, she’d come to Sweet Water Falls for their monthly Supper Club though she’d moved to Hilton Head Island over half a year ago.Right now, she shook her head, and Cass nodded, their silent conversation all Cass really needed.
She’d listen to the others too, but she suspected they’d all have the same opinion on Stacy.
She wasn’t a fit for their Supper Club.
“I liked her,” Sage said, getting up and taking her dessert plate with her.For their February meal, Cass had served Three Kings cake, though the holiday wasn’t for another couple weeks.Lauren had found the tiny plastic baby in her piece of cake, and Cass had crowned her queen for the day.
They’d laughed and talked, the food delicious and the wine flowing, all of them speculating what Lauren’s good luck would bring her.As Cass watched, she handed her plate—complete with the plastic baby on it—to Sage, who took it along with hers into Cass’s kitchen.The tiny toy got thrown away without much fanfare, the fun it had brought over now.
“I like her too,” Joy said with some false qualities in her voice.“I just don’t think…” She looked at Bessie, who definitely wouldn’t say they shouldn’t invite Stacy to be a permanent part of their Supper Club.
Bessie blinked at her.“What?What do you want me to say?”
“Do you think we should invite her back?”Lauren asked, her dark eyes blazing with fire.She was a passionate person, and that passion often clashed with Cass’s headstrong way of doing things.They both wanted to be right, and they both wanted to matter, and they both wanted to be in control of some things.
As a result, Cass clashed the most with Lauren, though she loved her dearly at the same time.The common ground between them had always been Bea, who brought harmony to their group of six.
“We should just keep the five of us,” Lauren said, turning her gaze to Cass when Bessie didn’t answer.
Cass walked over to her seat at the head of the table and sank into her chair.“Yeah,” she said, her voice carrying wistful qualities she wished it wouldn’t.
“I’m sorry,” Bea said, something she’d done a million times before.
“Don’t apologize,” Bessie said.“It’s not your fault.”
“It kind of is,” Bea said.“I want to keep coming.I do.It’s just…hard.”She stood too, picked up an empty bottle of wine, and went into the kitchen with it.
Cass watched her, her guilt pinching down inside her gut.The last thing she wanted was to cause any unrest in Bea.She’d lived in Texas for her whole life—until last year when she’d fallen in love with her now-husband, Grant, and moved to Hilton Head, South Carolina.
“Six is just so neat,” Cass said.“We each host twice a year.It’s easy.”
“We could have a bye month,” Lauren said.
Cass turned her gaze onto Lauren, not sure she’d heard her right.Yes, you did, her mind whispered at her.She simply didn’t want to have a bye month in their Supper Club.This event on the third Thursday of the month had been the highlight of her friendship with these women, and she adored her evening with them.
Yes, she saw them each outside of the Supper Club, and she could still do that.Cass literally planned changes for a living.But she had a very hard time accepting them in her personal life, especially without a lot of notice.
Bea had fallen in love with Grant in only a couple of weeks, and by her standards, that was very fast indeed.
“A bye month,” Joy repeated.“That’s actually a good idea.”
